Humanities Forum: Translation and Cultural Exchange
In 2011-13, the Humanities Forum examines theories and practices of translation in literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts from antiquity to the present. The study of translation invites us to examine theories of translation and poetics as well as problems of translation across temporal and cultural boundaries, and from one kind of cultural practice to another (e.g., rendering art or music into text or script into performance). The forum may include topics such as translatio studii (the geographical transfer of learning); the role of translation in the formation of cultural and national identities; literary translations in poetry and prose from the many ancient and modern languages taught at Hamilton (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish and other languages); translation from page to stage or film; translation within and between artistic media (words, sounds, images in film, theater, music, dance, and art); and translation as a metaphor for intercultural exchange and social transformation. As it encompasses a broad range of cross-cultural practices and encounters, the Forum will invite the participation of artists, filmmakers, linguists, poets, scholars, theorists, writers and others who explore or engage in translation in our age of global communication.